100 Days at Gumi: Taking the opportunity by the horn
When I started writing this article, I was just a day shy from my 100th day at Gumi, and I can’t even begin to describe everything I’ve felt since the start of this job. I have always been someone who always had an idea of what I wanted to do with my life, and truth be told, it made me a bit of a picky person, which led to me getting many talks from my mum on the negative effects of tunnel vision at a young age.
Anyone who knows me well enough will tell you that I am a very passionate person, with firm opinions with an affinity for well-organized and definite spaces. But my upbringing has led me to a state of refusing monotonous work no matter the benefits that come with it.
I remember the day I first heard about Gumi, I had already been in a limbo of rejecting banking and government jobs that my father seemed to never run out of and mentally preparing myself for interviews and tests I knew I didn’t want a part of in organizations I honestly couldn’t force myself to care about in any way, it was just a casual day and one of my best people (God bless you Pelumi) in the world sent me a job description for a project analyst at a place called Gumi, I remember saying to myself that there was no way jobs like this exist in Nigeria without the intent to frustrate someone’s child. But time was passing and with the pandemic, I knew I couldn’t keep giving excuses for not taking chances with the opportunities presented to me regardless of how I felt about my capacity compared to that required for the job.
After encouragement from some other people to apply and much prayer, I remember sending my email to Gumi, probably sounding as thirsty as most unemployed people do and meeting a process that honestly intrigued me more than it was supposed to. It started with a phone call. After days and days of preparing possible answers to questions I figured I would be asked about my knowledge of the position I applied for, I remember my conversation with one of the “team members” concentrated more on my general interests and what I imagined an ideal work environment should be like. I remember almost banging my head on the wall after that interview, I barely got any sleep preparing for it and all I did was talk about myself.
The following assessment stages were filled with fun tasks which made it clear that they were interested more in my personality and how I go about analysing and solving problems, and that was when I knew I found the place I wanted to work and grow in.
Our Values — the sweet part of working here
Gumi values are IPCDM; Innovate, People, Client intimacy, Do things properly, and Magic, and with my time here, I’ve seen these values rooted in the organization.
Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity — not a threat, and that is exactly how we see things here at Gumi. We strive to modify, improve, and create processes to ensure that there is always that flow of information required to help people make the best possible decisions.
Gumi takes every single one of her people seriously. In addition to providing learning opportunities for team members across different fields, Gumi looks at the expressive and psychological needs of the team too, always providing necessary support when needed. This family culture helps each team member give their best with every task they work on because they know help is always there when needed.
Client intimacy and doing things properly makes sure we are not just repeating methods that have worked in the past for other businesses, but instead, we pride ourselves in providing unique solutions to unique challenges in the best of ways and of course, with the help of a little bit of magic.
I have only spent 100 days here and I already have so much I’m grateful for; the experience, the memories, the mentorship, the people. I’m looking forward to spending many more days at Gumi and seeing how she will shape the world we live in.
